Savannah Outen is one of the amazing singers featured on Disneymania 7 and I had the chance to interview her last week. We talked about the song she sings on the album, how she got started and the amazing journey she’s been on so far. It was a joy to speak with Savannah and I can’t wait to see what 2010 holds for her!

Here’s Disnology’s exclusive interview with singer/song writer Savannah Outen:

Disnology: Your story is amazing. So, you just started posting videos of you singing and playing guitar on YouTube. What made you decide to start doing that?

Savannah: It was actually my parents’ idea. Nothing was really happening for me at the time. I was kind of desperate and decided to post a video to YouTube and then the fans started asking me to post more, so I did. Now, just as of yesterday, I hit over 51 million views. It has been pretty awesome and I am just so thankful for all of my fans on YouTube.

Disnology: Have you ever had professional training – singing, guitar or did it just come naturally?

Savannah: It came naturally. I just recently took a singing lesson just to see what it would be like. I wanted to try it out. It was fun and different. I think what I got most out of it was how to breathe when I am on stage so I don’t run out of breath. But, I’ve never taken a singing lesson other than that. I’ve always just listened to singers on CDs and study how they move their voice around, so I think that’s kind of how I learned to sing. It did just kind of come naturally for me.

I taught myself how to play guitar. My parents got me an electric guitar for me when I was 13, for my 13th Christmas and ever since I’ve been in love with playing the guitar. I went on the internet and learned how to place my fingers and just kind of taught myself that way.

Disnology: Can you tell me a little bit about your journey from posting videos on YouTube to now giving concerts and recording songs for CDs?

Savannah: I met my manager several years ago and he got me to be an artist on Radio Disney and then I went on Pick It or Kick It and I got a 95% pick it. It was so amazing. I was so excited. The fans kept voting for Goodbyes and that put me in the top 5 for the countdown on Radio Disney. Then I shot a music video for that. Then the second single came out and then the third and that was a lot of fun.

Radio Disney has been really good to me. It’s so amazing to be able to gain new fans, who didn’t watch my videos on YouTube. I’ve gotten to travel a lot and perform, which is my favorite thing to do. So, it’s just been a very fun journey and I am super excited for 2010.

Disnology: What did it feel like when your first song, Goodbyes, went live on the radio?Savannah: It was very cool. I had listened to Radio Disney prior to that, so it was fun to hear myself. And then to hear myself take over Radio Disney, like the line “Hey this isSavannah and you’re listening to Radio Disney”, so that was fun to listen to. But it was awesome to hear some of my random songs pop up every once and awhile while I was in the car. It’s been very amazing just to hear yourself on the radio.

But my favorite part was that it was a song I wrote by myself. I hear that a lot of artists don’t get to write their first single, so it’s not really their own song, it’s usually someone elses’s. So it was the coolest that the first song I had ever written was my first single.

Disnology: You write all of your own music don’t you?

Savannah: Yes, and I co-write as well. It’s fun to write with others because they have their own ideas and we put all of our brains together and come up with something.

Disnology: You have had songs featured on Radio Disney jams 11, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure and now Disney Mania 7. Congrats!!

Savannah: Yeah, Goodbyes was on Jams, The Greatest Treasure was on the Tinker Bell soundtrack and on the Disneymania 7 CD, I have a song coming out called “Little Wonders”. It’s from the movie “Meet the Robinsons” and I am so excited for people to hear it.

Disnology: Your Disneymania 7 song is from “Meet the Robinsons”? Very cool!

Savannah: Yeah, it’s a song that no one has ever covered before and I’ve been buying those CDs [Disneymania] ever since they came out and it’s exciting to be able to be a part of the 7th one. I mean Hilary Duff and Raven…all these fun people were on these CDs and now I have a chance to be a part of it. I can’t wait for it to come out.

Disnology: I know you have a MySpace, Twitter and obviously YouTube…do you feel it’s important for stars to reach out to their fans with social media sites like these?

Savannah: I think it’s very important. I mean YouTube, Twitter, MySpace…all of those fans are the reason I am here today, living my dream. So I think it’s very important to keep in contact. It’s fun to hear what they have to say and what they think about the songs and sometimes they’ll be like ‘Oh, I loved your outfit at the concert today’ and just hearing their input is fun. And twitter especially. It’s such a fast way to keep in touch with them. They can reply to my status and then I can reply back to them. YouTube an MySpace you kind of have to wait . But yeah, they are all great and I try to reply back to as many of them as I can.

Disnology: You started off your career by recording songs from popular artists and uploading them to YouTube and now you have fans singing YOUR songs and uploading them to YouTube. I bet that feels surreal?

Savannah: Yeah, it is so much fun to watch those videos. I love it.

Disnology: What advice would you give kids who want a successful singing career like yours?

Savannah: I would have to say, this is a really tough business. You need to have a very thick skin and a very supportive family and friends. If you have that support, I think you can do anything. And just to believe in yourself and never give up. I always try to tell kids that they should never give up and it’s so true because if I were to have given up a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Just always believe in yourself and dream big.

Disnology: Is there a moment so far in your life that you consider your favorite, where you felt like you were living your dream?

Savannah: Definitely, there have just been so many moments like that like where I am performing on stage and I look out at the crowd and the kids are singing along…that is always really special. Because I am one that when I go to concerts, I am always singing along to my favorite singer. It’s just cool to be on the other side of it now.

I had one show recently and a mom was singing along to my song and I thought that was amazing. A mom was singing along! How cool is that?

Also, at the Hannah Montana premiere, I went to the Hannah Montana: The Movie premiere, and the carpet was huge and I was just standing there thinking ‘I am not really here’. It was just amazing, just a really cool moment. And there’s just so many other different moments. I just think that every where I go, perform and travel and do meet and greets, those are always great moments for me and I am just super blessed to be living my dream.

Disnology: What concerts do you have coming up?

Savannah: I just had a show in California, it was the Haiti benefit concert, and that was a lot of fun to be asked to perform at. It was a huge honor. I have a concert in Portland, my hometown, with my good friend Josh Golden called Kid Fest. I don’t know the exact date, but you can go to my MySpace and look it up. I think that’s it for now. We are booking more shows soon, so that’s good, because performing is my absolute favorite.

Disnology: What was it like being a part of the Haiti benefit concert?

Savannah: It was a lot of fun. All of these great people came together for such a good cause and a lot of my friends were there. Yeah, it was very fun.

Disnology: Do you have any plans to pursue acting?

Savannah: Definitely. I mean, singing is where my heart is and it’s what I have wanted to do my whole life, but I would love to do acting at some point. I think that would be fun. I love comedy, like Steve Carrell and Amanda Bynes, and all of those awesome actors. So, I think it would be fun to do some sort of comedy for a movie. But I am focused on singing right now.

Disnology: Okay, here’s our lightning round

Disnology: Favorite musician

Savannah: Oh, that’s a tough one! I would have to say Jason Mraz, John Mayer, A Fine Frenzy or Celine Dion.

Disnology: Favorite actor

Savannah: John Krasinski from The Office or Amanda Bynes

Disnology: Favorite Food

Savannah: Indian food

Disnology: Favorite movie

Savannah: She’s the Man with Amanda Bynes and Elf with Will Ferrel

Disnology: Favorite place in the world

Savannah: I would have to say New York City.

Thanks Savannah! Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Disneymania 7 on March 9th!

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